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  • rainwater
    rainwater
    noun
    water fallen as rain.
  • Rainwater
    Rainwater
    noun
    (Leo) James, 1917–86, U.S. physicist: Nobel Prize 1975.
Synonyms

rainwater

1 American  
[reyn-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈreɪnˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

noun

  1. water fallen as rain.


Rainwater 2 American  
[reyn-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈreɪnˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

noun

  1. (Leo) James, 1917–86, U.S. physicist: Nobel Prize 1975.


rainwater British  
/ ˈreɪnˌwɔːtə /

noun

  1. water from rain (as distinguished from spring water, tap water, etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of rainwater

before 1000; Middle English rein water, Old English regn-wæter; see rain, water

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Among those technologies is direct air capture—in which carbon is absorbed from the atmosphere, enhanced rock weathering where rocks like basalt are spread over farm fields to capture dissolved carbon in rainwater.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 17, 2026

Liou and her gardener helped Lee install it and build a bioswale to catch rainwater, using stones from Valley Builders Supply and some larger rocks from Bourget Bros.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 10, 2026

Oil fires can also release sulphur and nitrogen oxides, which can form acids if they dissolve in rainwater, as well as other harmful hydrocarbons, metallic compounds and droplets of oil.

From BBC Mar. 10, 2026

These included data from Arctic ice-cores and rainwater samples collected around the world.

From Science Daily Feb. 6, 2026

The rainwater tastes so sweet, I would think it had honey in it.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

The study was funded by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation/Tau Consortium, the National Institutes of Health and other sources.

From Science Daily Mar. 3, 2026

Alumni from “Yellowstone” returning in “Marshals” include Gil Birmingham as tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater and Mo Brings Plenty as his confidante Mo.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 1, 2026

Joseph Shaposhnik, portfolio manager of the Rainwater Equity ETF, substantially reduced his exposure to software names over the summer, including selling most of his position in Constellation Software Inc.

From MarketWatch Feb. 4, 2026

Rainwater, ice and glacier meltwater accumulate in Suicide Basin.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 13, 2025

Rainwater dripping from the roof splattered in the mud below.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

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